The Titanic disaster: 100 years later

Today, of course, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic that claimed 1,517 lives. There were at least 23 passengers with Manitoba connections on board - only five survived.

Manitoba Free Press April 20, 1912

Back in 2008 I posted The Titanic's Manitoba Connections at my This Was Manitoba blog. In March of this year I dug back into the newspapers and other online archives for a major update and expansion of the post.

It is impossible to exaggerate the horror of the occasion. The implacable calmness of the merciless and all-engulfing ocean; the absolute isolation from any possibility of escape for the majority; the darkness of night and 2,200 human souls in the full vigor and healthfulness of life, the agonizing farewells between the few that were being saved and the many that were doomed to be entombed in the cold, dark waters – truly a grim experience and a terrible catastrophe. The Voice (Winnipeg), April 19, 1912 (source)